36A. Last Martin/Lewis film : HOLLYWOOD OR BUST. Dean and Jerry road caper also starring Anita Ekberg. She gets the picture honors.

49A. Subject of 1950s testing : HYDROGEN BOMB.

58A. Lays it on the line : TALKS TURKEY. A curious expression, with no truly believable explanation as to it's origins (apostrophe uncertainty precedes).

Hi everyone - Steve here with Kurt's latest midweeker. I enjoyed the theme and, as convention allows, there's no reveal required as the link between the entries is reasonably obvious. Some nice long downs too. Although there were quite a few 3's, the grid was thankfully light on abbreviations. Nice job!Let's see what else jumps out.

Across:

1. AARP concern : AGEISM

7. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

11. AOL chats : IM'S. Instant messages, IMHO.

14. Quick look : GLANCE

15. Need to retake in summer school, say : FAIL

16. Sylvester, to Tweety : TAT. More usually "Puddy Tat".

19. Andean vegetable : OCA. They call it a yam in New Zealand, for absolutely no good reason that I can see. Popeye in New Zealand says "I oca what I oca". No, I made that up. Food!

20. Adams of "American Hustle" : AMY. Thank you, crosses. 2013 comedy drama which never even blipped on my radar, I had to go look it up.

62. San Antonio NBA star Duncan : TIM. A very pleasant, self-effacing man if you've ever seen him interviewed.

63. Skin soother : ALOE

64. Daily special, e.g. : ENTRÉE. When I moved to the US I was confused by this being the main course - in England and France it means a course between the appetizer and the main. Marti would not bat an eyelid at three courses, but wonder why we don't all have aperitivo, antipasto, primo, secondo e contorno, insalata, formaggi et fruti, dolce, caffè and digestivo every Wednesday. And that doesn't even include the wine! Fooood! I'm moving to Italy.

65. "Comprende?" : SEE? The more I think about this, the more it seems odd - wouldn't we expect a Spanish answer here (except that the only one I can think of is "Entiende?" and that doesn't fit!)?

66. Remain up in the air : PEND

67. Swordfish servings : STEAKS. Food-fest today.

Down:

1. Former Belgian camera brand : AGFA. Knew the name, but didn't know it was a Belgian company.

12. Region on the South China Sea : MACAO. A short ferry ride from Hong Kong and popular with gamblers.

13. Immortal college coach Amos Alonzo __ : STAGG

18. Farm attachment? : YARD

22. Bog : FEN. This seems to have cropped up a few times recently.

23. Lupine cry : HOWL

24. Took it on the lam : FLED

25. Deere competitor : TORO

26. Field worker : HOER. Hmmmm. I'll leave it at that.

27. Adolph of publishing : OCHS. Former "New York Times" owner. I never made the connection before, but when Ochs built a new headquarters in 1904 for the Times on what was then Longacre Square in Manhattan, the city renamed it "Times Square".

61. Driver's decision: Abbr. : RTE. I let Google Maps make those decisions for me now, it does a much better job than I ever did.

And, in the words of Sylvester and Tweety: That's all, Folks!

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to our Jam Master Chickie! Chickie has a loving & tight-knit family. Her kids and grandkids will probably celebrate her birthday this weekend.

L to R: Chickie, Lucina, Garlic Gal, JD, and Dodo

2) Happy Birthday to Spitzboov's wife Betty as well! Don't miss this"It Matters Where You Put the Tag" & this Christ the Redeemer construction work links Spitzboov got for us the past couple of days. This vacuum one made me laugh out loud also.

Spitzboov
& Betty at the reunion dinner held at the US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, 2012

Fun write up, Steve.I discovered the theme and thus got FLOP, but the natick at F in FOSBURY did me in. I didn't know AGFA, either, but now that I see it, it rings a faint bell. I wasn't sure of the key with 5 sharps, either. I had to run the entire alphabet in my mind to get the Y in YARD. But I enjoyed the puzzle. ARRGH, beat by two cells on a Wednesday!Off for Alan's commute. I hope the roads are not ooo flooded.

I wasn't overly enamored with this one, to be honest. The theme was cute and I figured out what was going on about halfway through, although knowing the theme didn't affect the solve at all.

I went with IN A instead of In B at 4D which, since I didn't know FOSBURY from a hole in the wall, caused me some grief. Mr. STAGG may be "immortal", but I've never heard of him. I knew AGFA made film, but had no idea they also made cameras. I've never seen SCUBAS as a verb before, only SCUBA Diving. I thought "Skyline" always referred to buildings, not mountains. And I always thought the expression was HAIR OF THE DOG that bit me.

Hmmmm... Now that I think of it, all those issues were in the top section of the puzzle. The rest was perfectly fine, but I guess when I get off on the wrong foot like that it kind of sours me on the whole puzzle...

This one started out like a Saturday, but ended in normal Wednesday time. I knew the high jump answer was going to be that backward thingee, but had no idea who invented it. The other theme answers came easily.

Wish You Were Here might remind you of Pink Floyd or Rotten Tomatoes, but folks of a "certain age" might think instead of Eddie Fisher. Or maybe that old postcard standard: Weather's here. Wish you were beautiful.

USIA reminded me of its one-time director Edward R. Murrow. VOA was a propaganda vehicle for the US government. Murrow, along with Fred Friendly, produced some outstanding documentary programs for CBS back in the day. Murrow was instrumental in bringing down "Tailgunner" Joe McCarthy.

When I enrolled at Susquehanna U in 1955 Amos Alonzo Stagg, Jr. was legendary there having been athletic director, great football coach and, sometime basketball and tennis coach. He retired in 1954, just before I came. Later I was surprised to learn through crosswords that his father, Amos Alonzo, Sr. is even more famous. STAGG is a crossword staple.I love SKYLINE Drive in VA with its many panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Happy Birthday Chickie and Betty.

Our commute was a bust. We never got to test the waters. We stopped for breakfast. Alan had an anxiety attack so we came home.

This puzzle took a little extra effort due to the unknowns AGFA TAL OCHS GLOM and HOLLYWOOD BUST.

For me, 17A was the easiest because I was a high jumper on the high school track team and graduated in 1968. The FOSBURY FLOP was never done earlier because you would have broken your neck landing in the SAWDUST, but the Cloud Nine air inflated cushions that were becoming available allowed a different style other than the straddle-roll that was previously used. These cushions were too expensive for high schools to use.

11D gave me a little trouble because I had CAT instead of TAT and the 28D 'Mom or dad' clue was a good misdirection that I couldn't grasp until I had most of the perps filled.

But this was a nice EASY Wednesday puzzle and I am AT A LOSS as to why NSYNC could ever become famous, other than a good manager who ended up in prison.

Fun outing today. Picked up the theme after the first 2 and knew what to expect. Filled in Turkey with just a couple of perps. The only real unknown was Tav, but we've had it before....

I've never owned an Agfa camera, but I burned through at least $10,000 worth of their film prior to going digital. Not only was it a little cheaper than Kodak, but their small 35mm rolls had 15 exposures, not 12. That was a perfect size for my purposes.

Couldn't make sense out of "Morning-after shot" until I got most of the letters via perps.

Never saw "HOLLYWOOD OR BUST" but that one resolved easily. Just watched a PBS show on the development of the HYDROGEN BOMB.

The easiest answer for me was FOSBURY FLOP. I was second on the high school track team in the high jump. My teammate that was first in high jump adopted the Fosbury flop in the off season. He won sectionals and set our high school record, and qualified for the state championship. He also led the basketball team in rebounding.

Ditto AGFA Steve. They did a lot of advertising in Europe.

I thought GLOM, esp as "glom onto" was slang for becoming part of, or taking part of. Never knew it had anything to do with stealing or theft.

As a diver I never went scubas. Just went diving. Didn't like Swiss skyline sight and that ebro por ejemplo. Saw that kind of cluing a few times this week and it's getting as old as the Simpson clues. Ok puzzle for a Wednesday.

Hi Y'all! Lots of unknowns for a Wed. WEES plus FLAG evaded me until the end. I staggered on STAGG, not having attended Susquehanna U. The NE filled last. I got the theme. Yay me! Fun despite the trip-ups, Kurt. My mind wasn't NSYNC somehow since I couldn't figure out how "fiver"= ABE until I read Steve's great expo. Duh!

S.A.C. (Strategic Air Command) before SDI. SAC bases were all over the middle USA. Never heard of SDI.

TIM Duncan is most admirable. He is now OLD for the strenuous game he plays without ever smiling.

Steve, I also expected a Spanish word at 65a. Finally plugged in the second "E" on SEE and was surprised it was right.

Happy Birthday, Chickie & Betty!

I'm off to see about getting that vacuum if the guy comes with it to follow me around and do the sucking up. Too funny! Talk about liposuction!

STAGG was easy after a couple letters. STAGG Field (football field) is in Chicago at the University of Chicago. The A bomb was invented underneath it, I believe.

Theme was fine and a bit humorous.

Liked 29D PALINDROME. Great clue/answer.

Have never been an OKRA fan. Of course in a stew or soup it all blends together.

Watched the guys take down one tree yesterday. One went up with all his ropes, gear, and a saw, and never came out of the tree until it was a stump. Everything he cut of any size was lowered with ropes, not dropped. Amazing! Two more to go. Then the village takes the other two.

AGFA was a gimme. The waning of film technology and the decline of the mighty Kodak Company have been much on my mind lately, because I found so much old photo and movie stuff in the family attic. There were lots of the familiar yellow Kodak boxes, and there was one pristine unexposed roll of AGFA 35mm film. AGFA was dominant in Europe, but here at home Kodak was clearly king. I now find I miss the store displays, with diamond shaped cubby holes full of yellow film boxes.

A stellar puzzle today with much fresh fill. Haven't seen PALINDROME in a while. Other eclectic fill (for me) included OCHS, AGFA, MACAO, FOSBURY____, and HEFTS. Fun to suss out the theme, too.AGEISM - A new ratchet pawl for BH, today.LEEKS - The biggest and most delicious looking leeks I ever saw was in the Farmer's Market, Bytown, Ottawa, some years ago. Love leek soup.Kurt - Gut Gemacht!

C.C. - Betty and I thank you and all those who have expressed good wishes to her today. Glad you like the recent links.Here's a related one on the perils of being a Wing-Suit Skydiver.

WEES. Today was fun but not necessarily EASY. Since I didn't know FOSBURYFLOP, I thought all the theme answers would start with H. TALK TURKEY disabused me of that idea. Across/down solving was de rigueur today for some unknowns and obscure cluing. However, AMY, FLO and even Amos Alonso STAGG are all familiar and that provided much needed anchors. Hand up for expecting Spanish at 65A.

Sword fish would not be my first choice for STEAKS.

Steve, I almost spit out my coffee with the image of Lady Godiva on a fiver.

Steve, very entertaining write-up, as always! I had to chuckle at your comment on ENTRÉE. The first time I took my MIL to dinner in Milan, we had aperitifs and antipasto, followed by a primo of Ravioli. She ate every bite, and then announced, “That was the best meal I have ever had!” She was totally shocked to find out that we had another 4-5 courses to go!! (^0^)

I had slow going in the northern hemisphere, for the same reasons others have stated. (TAL, STAGG, AMY…I’m looking at you!) I knew it was ***BURY FLOP, but couldn’t remember the alliterative name until perps jogged my memory. (AGFA, GLOM, EASY…thank you!)

I think I’ve seen this theme several times before, but it was still fun to figure out the entries.

We are getting pounded with rain today – thank goodness. Not only do our lawns really need it, but I get a day off from painting the house next door. Yippee!

Well, bit of a toughie for a Wednesday, what with the unknowns others have mentioned. Had to do a lot of alphabetizing to get words like FOSBURY. But the theme was a lot of fun, so, many thanks, Kurt. And Steve, you were in great form today with your ENTREE, OCA, and Times Square explanations. I too wanted to put YAM and couldn't understand why it wouldn't work.

A very happy birthday to Chickie (one of our long standing regulars) and Betty (who puts up with one of our long standing regulars) and many more. Kurt has presented another fine puzzle with some meat on the bones, but Fosbury was a gimme as was as was Stagg.

USIA was my biggest slowdown and I apparently have a mental block with Mr. TAL, who we have had many times but it all filed easily and the theme was cute.

I was OFFTO a great start with the NW corner; the FOSBURY FLOP was indeed a "revolutionary move" in the world of track and field. AGEISM was a "Meh" but it fit and completed GLOM.

I went to the bottom half of the crossword, as I was initially ATALOSS for the middle, western border (eventual answers of OCHS, SDI, OPPOSED). But I gradually used perps and a couple of WAGS to get everything to fit correctly. I used to live near the VOA Relay Station in Butler County Ohio, but, as others admitted, did not know that it was the USIA that oversaw the VOA. The area around the VOA in West Chester OH is now a major shopping plaza.

I liked the use of 34D and 35D next to each other (Greek Consonants and Greek Vowels = PSIS and ETAS); 42A was a cute clue and solve (sound from a pen = OINK). Last words entered were OCA and MACAO in the NE corner. I knew STAGG and the others, too. OCA/MACAO was a WAG that happened to be correct . . .

Was a bit surprised that no one commented on my link to Verve Records yesterday. No jazz fans here??

Remember Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records? He had the Chordettes (married one of 'em), Andy Williams, and the Everly Brothers. Not sure how Link Wray got in there. I'm guessing Archie must've lost a bet.

Wow found a puzzle in a box of dishes that was packed with newspapers. BR Advocate Sept. 9, 2004 A Barry Silk on a Thursday. Almost nailed it but had Anne S instead of Agnes for Cecil B niece. What a find !!

Steve, thanks for the great write up. I had never heard of TALKS TURKEY; it might as well be TALKS SMURF since turkey seems to be used to mean anything these days.

Also thanks for those lines from Romeo and Juliet. Whereas I will not be using the phrase "talks turkey" anytime soon, I might make "ope her lap" a new household euphemism. After all, how could she not ope her lap for Dick Fosbury every time she saw him flop.

I liked the "I oca what I oca." Maybe it will help me remember that answer more quickly in the future. Incidentally, my wife's favorite Robin William's movie is Popeye.

Very good news! Alans' MRA came back negative for an Aneurysm. YAY! We dodged that bullet.

Pending, more tests in Sept. I suspect multiple interconnecting causes.

Bad news: Alan is very sick in bed all day today. He mostly sleeps. It looks like a repeat of the three weeks of illness he had in June. The reason is still unknown. Back to square one. And he is quite scared. Me, too.

Happy birthday, Chickie and Betty. It makes me smile to see how happy you two look.

Terrific writeup, Steve.

Wanted BARN until perps made me realize the answer was YARD.

I also have never heard SCUBA as a verb, but I am never ever again going to question the correctness of the cluing.

I have never thought of MACAO as "Region on the South China Sea" but rather as two land masses in the South China sea. The Sargasso Sea is a region, or an area, in the Atlantic Ocean, not on it. But again, I'm not going to question the correctness of the cluing. Just picking the ole nits today.

We've had three fairly easy puzzles this week, and because of my stupid mistakes they've all been DNFs. I don't think things are going to improve until next week. Thanks to all the constructors and bloggers for your time and effort. I enjoy your work.

d-o @ 1:41 - can't say that I recall that label, but when I googled it, I found that it was the label for Vaughn Meader and his comedic rendition of The First Family. Meader's career pretty much ended when JFK was assassinated. I do remember the album as my Dad had it in his stash of LP's

Yellowrocks @ 5:50am & 2:43pm - Thank you for introducing "natick" into my crosswordese vocab (a la Rex Parker). I certainly had some natick snags today. I enjoy Rex Parker's write ups of the NYT puzzles, but I have never posted on his blog because it is not nearly as interactive and cozy as this Corner--and I shall add in earnest that I prefer the write ups here (with all due respect to Rex).

My NYT learning moment today was that Mark Twain's burial place is in Elmira, New York. I have been to his house in Hartford, CT, but didn't know he was buried in NY. Anyway, I only mention this because it made me think of you, Yellowrocks, and your love for Twain. I am glad to hear about the test results and hope that Alan feels better.

On a note to everyone else: I really enjoy all of the links the people post on this site and feel bad that I never have the time to comment on them all; in effect, however, there are so many good links that I think it would take far more than 5 twenty-line posts to acknowledge how neat they all are in their myriad ways. So Kudos to everyone!

And speaking of jazz, who can't remember this classic scene from Jerry Maguire when the nanny, Chad, asks Jerry to use his Miles Davis/John Coltrane tape before engaging in sex with Dorothy. "No borders, no bounderies, jazz!"

Hola Everyone, Somehow this puzzle was easier than the one yesterday. I didn't get to it until after lunch, but finished it in no time.

I loved the clue for Mom and Dad. Also, In B for having 5 sharps. Hard wouldn't fit. I hated playing piano pieces with more than three sharps!

Since we had Ebro in one of puzzles very recently, Rio was a given.

C.C. Thank you for the shout out for my birthday. Also, Spitz for the links. The workers on the Christ the Redeemer Statue are very brave men.

Also, Happy Birthday to Betty. It is always fun to find someone else with my same birthday.

And yes, we had a dinner celebration for my DH's birthday and mine this past weekend. HIs is on the ninth of Aug. However, our great granddaughter will be here with her parents to celebrate again on the 23rd. I can't wait to get my hands on that new little one.

YR, it must be very hard for you not to know the reason, but ruling out an aneurysm is good news. Loved your skylines. I never appreciated Van Gogh's many paintings of the rolls of wheat until I saw them on our last trip down the Rhine.

Avg Joe, I probably shouldn't ask why you have a camel saddle; yet, I will say that getting humped home on a camel driven by a dog sounds like something I'd be interested in pursuing further. Is it safe to assume that PennySaver has a whole section on camels for sale?

Rec Parker is quite popular, he used to visit here once in a while but he got angry and has not been back. The different philosophy of the NYT seems to extend to their bloggers. I find it hard to accept there being only one way to create and critique puzzles.

BUSTed by self - error in post - it should have read "OwenKL in re":..

LEM - I kinda agree - Simple curious questions are shot down as if everyone knows the FLO(w). C.C. has created a great place here W(h)ERE dumb-s**ts like me can ask an honest curious question and get a real answer.

I'd try to call out all for their contributions, but I know I'd miss an important contributor.

I bought the camel saddle at a garage sale. Why? Because it was there... And I've always wanted one. It's the epitome of kitsch. They're used as ottomans. It took me at least an hour at said garage sale to decide I wanted it. But I did not negotiate price. $10 seemed fair. It was a "yes-no" proposition, not one of cost. So, after much mental wrangling, I came home with a saddle. My wife is still questioning my judgement.

And even though we'd have room to graze a camel, it's never been a desire to actually own one. So we shall remain camel-less.

But hey! I more recently went to another garage sale and they had not one, but two English riding saddles. I commented on them, but discretion ruled and they did not come home with me. Domestic tranquility prevails.

Avg Joe - I probably have overstepped my posting limits as well, so I will end on this. When selecting items for our wedding registries a few years back, I added a chainsaw for good measure. My fiancé-now-wife simply said, "That's a nice touch" and quickly proceeded to change all of the registry passwords. The best part is that we lived in an apartment and had no trees; she did not bother to inquire, I did not feel compelled to explain.

Dinner (supper?) is mostly cooked. Barbara got a well-marbled piece of prime boneless rib-eye steak at Costco and I got it back up a bit hotter than body temperature on the propane grill. I even smeared on a very little bit of Jeff Foxworthy BBQ sauce about halfway through. It has a really good but subtle flavor.

Now, baked potatoes and an ear of corn cooked and husked ala the microwave CWC recipe.

Anon (10:50), it's always helpful to get your thoughtful, snarky, unattributed, uninformed opinions. I live for your posts. It also speaks volumes about your ignorance and/or thoughtlessness when you choose to complain about typos by a person with serious vision problems. Oh well...

Other than that, I've been really enjoying the more-than-usual late night activity around here. Such an enjoyable group of people to hang out with. (With whom to hang out?)

Sorry, but I am now going to commit a major faux pas and comment once more after I have already said I have stopped. I feel like I locked into a certain discussion and did not acknowledge other (more long-standing) voices, so:

Lemonade @ 10:16 - I wholeheartedly agree with what you said. I have been to so many other sites, and the majority of posters simply want to vent, pat themselves on the back, curry favor, hear themselves speak, or rip others apart.

This is why I adore the Corner: it is a place where people share, learn, grown, help, and support each other. When a place is this harmonious, it is inevitable that a few pathetic anons will stop by out of jealousy to attempt to bring down the camaraderie.

That said, and since it has become apparent today that nobody goes to anybody other's links (JK), I will definitively leave on this song:

@AvJ - English saddles are definitely better as a decoration than to actually sit on one. I think they were designed to help assuage some Victorian misplaced guilt "If you're going to ride on that poor burdened creature of God, you're sure as hell not going to like it".